Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

Wegians89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057579#Comment_122057579

Probably would have but for what ever reason Connacht have decided to move on from him

SqueakyKneecap

I heard that a lot of renewed contracts this season are on similar if not lower salary due to budget cuts needed for the stadium works. It wouldn't shock me if a lad like Farrell wasn't going to accept a lower salary and knew they had leverage due to the importance of a solid 13. I'd highly doubt Connacht wanted rid of a specialist 13.

ElisaAtWar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122058503#Comment_122058503

Cool. It is finally done.

ElisaAtWar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122058503#Comment_122058503

Over the years people who have really caresd about Connacht rugby have come and gone from this forum. Just another. There ya go

ElisaAtWar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122059766#Comment_122059766

goodbye folks. leave it to the new generation

ElisaAtWar

One last thing. I hope someone takes over my unpopular stance in times to come. I think it adds. Over and out from Ouncer

Zeugnis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122059969#Comment_122059969

I think you'll be back. But enjoy the break, the weather is improving, time to get away from the keyboard ;)

Think about the rest of the season this way: if Connacht still qualify for the Champions Cup, it will be a joyful travesty, and if they don't, it will help to get the current management out the door.

b.gud

2 year extension for Ralston

Robbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122058497#Comment_122058497

Don't threaten me with a good time.

FACECUTTR

Good to get him signed up. Solid if not spectacular. I think he's a great 13 in defence but his attacking game is a little dull. I'm not sold on him as a winger.

CuriousCucumber

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122058503#Comment_122058503

Lets remember April 24th every year as a day of celebration

realhorrorshow

Loosehead

Denis Buckley (34) 2025+1

Matthew Burke (27) 2024

Peter Dooley (30) 2025+1

Jordan Duggan (26) 2026

Oisin Michel (22) - Academy year 2

Charlie Ward (24) - Academy year 3

Tighthead

Jack Aungier (25) 2026

Finlay Bealham (32) 2026

Sam Illo (23) 2025

Dominic Robertson-McCoy (30) 2024

Fiachna Barrett (21) - Academy year 1

Hooker

Eoin De Buitléar (22) 2025

Dave Heffernan (33) 2025

Tadgh McElroy (27) 2024?

Dylan Tierney-Martin (25) 2026

Matthew Victory (21) - Academy year 1

Lock

Oisin Dowling (27) 2024?

Joe Joyce (30) 2025?

Josh Murphy (29) 2025

Darragh Murray (23) 2026

Niall Murray (24) 2025

Gavin Thornbury (30) 2024

Back row

Paul Boyle (27) 2025

Jarrad Butler (33) 2024

Shamus Hurley-Langton (24) 2026

Sean Jansen (25) 2025

Oisin McCormack (23) 2024?

Sean O'Brien (24) 2025?

Conor Oliver (28) 2025

Cian Prendergast (24) 2025

Scrumhalf

Caolin Blade (30) 2026

Matthew Devine (22) 2026?

Michael McDonald (25) 2024

Colm Reilly (25) 2025

Outhalf

Jack Carty (32) 2025

JJ Hanrahan (32) - 2025?

Sean Naughton (20) - Academy year 1

Harry West (21) - Academy year 2

Centre

Bundee Aki (34) 2025

Tom Daly (31) 2024

Tom Farrell (30) 2024

Cathal Forde (22) 2026

Hugh Gavin (20) - 2026?

David Hawkshaw (25) 2025

John Devine (20) - Academy year 2

Daniel Hawkshaw (22) - Academy year 2

Back 3

Shayne Bolton (24) 2026

Santiago Cordero (30) 2025

Mack Hansen (26) 2025

Shane Jennings (23) 2024?

Oran McNulty (24) 2024

Tiernan O'Halloran (33) 2024

John Porch (30) 2025

Byron Ralston (24) 2026

Andrew Smith (24) 2025?

Shane Mallon (22) - Academy year 2

Chay Mullins (22) - Academy year 2

James Nicholson (21) - Academy year 1

Josh O'Connor (23) - Academy year 3

Finn Treacy (20) - Academy year 1

*ages as at 01/09/2024

IN:

OUT: Diarmuid Kilgallen (back 3, Munster), Liam McNamara (back 3, released)

FACECUTTR

Smith signed on today too.

testtech05

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122059581#Comment_122059581

Is it still the case that provinces arent allowed to outbid each other for players I wonder? I think it used to be the case anyway.

Either way I would be very disappointed to see Tom leaving he was an excellent signing for someone recruited the way he was. If he does go and we sign O'Connor he will have a lot to live up to.

lavrenti

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122058497#Comment_122058497

Somehow I don't think this is the last we'll hear from you……………..

Borders no.2

I've no major issue with Ralston. A fine defender and good reader of the game but overall he's a squad player at best and a 2 year contract is very generous in my view.

Kilgallen still has improvements to make to move up a level but overall imo he should have been a regular starter when fit. He's made the right move for himself going to Munster and he'll do well there.

Whatever case can be made for that move, the treatment of Farrell defies any logic.

It's either a case of management being off their head or a cost cutting plan is coming down from upstairs. If its the latter, there's a lot of fat that can be trimmed from the squad around player 30-40 mark if needed but weakening our best available options is a bad starting point.

For years we pulled ourselves up the pecking order and kept ourselves competitive by boxing clever with our signings but our current scattergun approach to recruitment worries me hugely.

SqueakyKneecap

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061643#Comment_122061643

That rule still applies but as per usual there's always additional incentives that can offered external to do the deal to sweeten things.

realhorrorshow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061643#Comment_122061643

I think so but I'm not sure how it would work in this case. If we low-balled him, would other provinces only be able to offer that amount, or could they offer his current salary?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061679#Comment_122061679

Yeah Ralston needs to either add to his game or else lean into the versatility and become the ideal squad player. He's not going to be a starter for long with the quality of athletes we have coming through. There is hope for him though, I think he's quite similar to Brex a few years ago, who added a playmaking threat to his arsenal to become an international calibre centre.

Kilgallen is a loss but it's one of the few positions we can afford one. Bolton, Smith, Jennings, Mullins, and Treacy are all excellent athletes with similar potential.

Hard to know what happened with Farrell as there's a lot of information we're not privy to, but in general I agree that it makes much more sense to cut a few fringe players and lean on the academy a bit, than release first choice players. Hindsight is 20/20 but we could have gotten through this season with 7/8 less senior players quite comfortably. If O'Conor does sign, I have to assume it's a PONI deal, otherwise I can't really see the logic.

Mr Tickle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122062068#Comment_122062068

I assume they can at least offer the current salary. Anything else just seems like it would cause resentment between the player and the team anyway.

If a player and management have a falling out, they offer him minimum wage and he can either accept it or he has to move abroad/retire.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was even a small amount that they are allowed to increase by. Just like an adjustment for inflation type thing.

CowboyTed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122060506#Comment_122060506

Generally I look at this way, I presume they is a good bit of money for Champions Cup. Otherwise with the way we treat the Champions Cup (weaker sides, rest time, crap format) and we only really care about the opposition (e.g. Bristol game). The Challenge Cup is just as good, this was very different back in the old format when the fans got more involved with the home and away side of it..

So what we are playing for is money. Money get better wages and thus better players…

I think we have a good crop of players coming through, I just worry about our coaching ticket, they need to get it right… Boards.ie is picking better teams on a regular basis, Tom Farrell is a fantasic player and servant for Connacht and he was treated like crap, he was far better than the players playing his position. That must have been humiliating for Tom like it was for Bundee the year previous…

Can I give Tom a lot of credit, he must have been taking a hit to his confidence when he was brought back a few games ago, he came back with a bang and fair dues to you. I really wish him the best in Munster and I pretty confident that he is going to be a star in Limerick. I was in the Main Stand one day when Tom was doing a number on Chris Farrell, auld buck from Munster taps me and say 'I think we bought the wrong Farrell'…

Shehal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122056842#Comment_122056842

I dont know if you can read or not but I already said to you I'm a Munster fan.

Like I've said already, that clip is totally inconclusive was to weather he knocks on or not as like I've already said the trajectory of the ball never changes and crucially its not clear if the ball even travels forward. There is absolutely nothing clear about, just because Welsh twitter a crying through the rooftops about this doesnt mean they are right.

And, like I already said, we had a neutral refereeing team who decided the Ulster player hadn't knocked so no its not just "ulster tinted glasses"

I just find it amusing how you will try claim that this is definitely a knock on, despite being totally inconclusive, but then will try say the Carre footage is inconclusive when you can clearly see Carre touch the ball and it then go forward.

You should say no more as you are just embarrassing yourself

SqueakyKneecap

Lads nobody cares about the Ulster talk. I'm sure there's a better thread for it.

b.gud

2 year extension for Oising Dowling

realhorrorshow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122062499#Comment_122062499

An underrated player imo.

realhorrorshow

After today's renewals, only the following futures are undecided by my reckoning:

Matthew Burke

Dom Robertson-McCoy

Tadgh McElroy

Gavin Thornbury

Jarrad Butler

Oisin McCormack

Tom Daly

Tom Farrell

Shane Jennings

Oran McNulty

Tiernan O'Halloran

Resigned to losing Farrell so just leaves Jennings as a must sign for me. Not that I necessarily want the others to go but I wouldn't really be too upset if they did.

Zeugnis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122063135#Comment_122063135

Agree about Jennings.

Surely they have to extend McElroy, de Buitlear's getting surgery and DTM hasn't played in four months. Neck injuries, as we know, can be tricky, so the depth at hooker looks threadbare.

Due to the chronic selection policy there is no obvious succession plan at 15, which suggests to me that they will have to extend TOH for another year. Oh yeah, Santi will look after it… sure, maybe…

For me, McElroy is a must, TOH is a necessity created by the coaching staff's poor design.

Zeugnis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122062499#Comment_122062499

Great news, an excellent and very consistent player who has built an impressive career with us. He has a disciplined but hard edge, and I've liked him at six when they've played him there as well.

realhorrorshow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122063538#Comment_122063538

Agree we need a hooker. I think something has to give at Leinster and I imagine McKee or Barron would fancy their chances at nailing down a starting berth here pretty quickly. Though that would leave us with a rather young age profile for such a key position, so maybe McElroy is the smart choice.

macslash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122062262#Comment_122062262

I'm embarrassing myself?? You quote replied to my same post 2 days in a row. Have a look back at your own posts and see. I haven't said anything here since you said you were a Munster fan the first time, so take a breath before you get all riled up. I can read...are you sure you can?

And regarding the whole Ulster/Cardiff situation. All I said originally was that Cardiff were unlucky and I'd have preferred they had won for Connacht's benefit.

macslash

Great news today. Especially about Dowling. I feel we really miss him when he's not available. Looking more and more likely that Thornbury will be on the way out. Awful luck for him.